Memories from childhood fueled collector's lifelong interest in Tianjin

When a seminar commemorating a Japanese man's profound love for North China's Tianjin municipality was held at the city's Foreign Affairs Office in late September, the electricity cut off unexpectedly for about 10 seconds.

It happened just as one speaker was sharing his memories of the man, Kondou Hisayoshi, who was born in Tianjin in 1932 and passed away in Japan in June.

Taken as a "kind of interaction between heaven and mankind", it caused some in the audience to tear up.

For his lifelong commitment to the city, Kondou was named an honorary citizen of Tianjin on Sept 24. Since that day, his collection of more than 180 photos, newspapers and books about the city has been on display in the grand hall on the first floor of the Tianjin Foreign Affairs Office, as part of an exhibition titled Tianjin, My Hometown.

"The city honors Kondou's lifelong commitment to spreading awareness of its culture and history in Japan, and for donating his collection of valuable historical photos," said Luan Jianzhang, director of the Tianjin Foreign Affairs Office.

"Personal ties between China and Japan benefit diplomatic relations, particularly as next year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations."

Kijima Yoshiko, information and culture minister at the Japanese embassy in China, noted that Kondou's profound love for Tianjin lay at the core of his efforts.

"He often recalled his experience of being loved by Tianjiners, which fueled his nostalgia for the city after he left for Japan," she noted.

Kondou spent his childhood in the port city and left in 1946.

The extent of his collection made some people think he was a professional researcher, but in fact he was an ordinary businessman.

"Tianjin was my first hometown, and I love it," he told the press and researchers on numerous occasions.

He went on to publish two books, A Century of Love for Tianjin and Tianjin Today and Yesterday in Japanese.

"His love for Tianjin is hard to describe," said Wang Zhenliang, head of the Wenjin Academy, a research center in the city. Wang, who was a close friend of Kondou, said that his many visits were packed with nostalgia, excitement and the cherishing of times past, as the former resident explored old villas and shared his finds with local friends.

Kondou visited Tianjin more than 30 times since 1989, collecting materials, studying the city's history and holding exhibitions, once in Japan and twice in Tianjin.

During one notable visit, the then 80-year-old Kondou arrived in Tianjin from Kobe by ship rather than plane, carrying five large suitcases filled with documents to donate to the Tianjin Municipal Archives and other organizations. He was quoted as saying that he could "save money by taking the ship, rather than the plane".

This stood in sharp contrast to the way he spent money on his collection. According to Zhang Limin, former director of the History Research Institute at the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, market insiders said that Kondou's interest in historical photos of China caused prices at secondhand book markets in Japan to rise.

Keiichiro, Kondou's son, sent a video message to the seminar, saying, "My father spent most of his savings and time on his collection, and he enjoyed the nostalgia they gave him."

The precious collection vividly represents life in Tianjin's former Japanese concession, as well as the lives of Japanese immigrants in China, providing firsthand information for the study of the history and culture of modern Tianjin.

In 2009, Kondou donated more than 1,000 originals to the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. Additional donations were made to Chinese and Japanese organizations for research and media purposes.

"He had only one requirement when donating materials: that they be exhibited so that more people could understand the history of Tianjin," said Wan Lujian, an associate researcher at the academy.

Wan visited Kondou just before last year's Spring Festival. He did not know that this would be their last meeting. "I will never forget the day Hisayoshi told me: 'I'm too old to go back to China to meet old friends and share these photos, so please take them with you.'"

Many researchers have noted that Kondou helped Tianjin, which was the most populous Japanese concession in China in the 20th century, fill gaps in historical records and greatly added to records of Japanese immigrant life in the country.

"During our research, we barely found any photos of the flood of 1917. But we found one photo of it in Kondou's donation, along with numerous other photos of city scenes," said Yu Xueyun, a senior researcher at the Tianjin Municipal Archives.

Her comment was echoed by Song Zhiyong, a professor at the Japan Institute of Nankai University in Tianjin.

During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), Nankai University was occupied by Japanese forces. The university briefly moved to Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan province, which became home to many Chinese fleeing the war, but hardly any historical photos remained from the period.

Kondou purchased many of his photos from that period in secondhand book markets, and later donated them to Nankai, Song said.

"Tianjin was the kind of city that left many Japanese with unforgettable memories. Kondou brought a group of elderly former residents to an interview with me in 2004. They shared their love of their 'homeland' and said many touching things about the place they'd spent their childhoods," said Song Anna, a former senior reporter at Tianjin Daily.

The history of all foreign immigrants in the city, not only Japanese, should be given greater attention by researchers, she said.